City of Wilsonville General News

The Wilsonville Public Library has hired Deborah Gitlitz as a new Outreach Librarian to focus on identifying underserved community members and connecting them with the local Library’s broad range of services.

Library Director Pat Duke states, “Deborah’s time is dedicated to identifying community members who do not currently use the library and who are not as familiar with how the Library and its services can improve their lives. In particular, she is focused on finding families that have preschool-aged children who can benefit from early childhood literacy messages and programs like Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program.”

The Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program provides a free book each month to Wilsonville families who have preschool-aged children up to five years old. Families can register on the Imagination Library website, www.ImaginationLibrary.com; at the Wilsonville Public Library; or can call Deborah for more information.

Other important early childhood literacy messages that are central to Deborah’s outreach include:

• Parents and caregivers are their children’s most trusted and influential teachers.• Read, talk, sing, write and play with your children! It’s fun, it’s easy, and research shows these activities have an enormous positive impact on their brain development.• Children’s attention spans vary. Follow their interests in books, whether it’s enjoying just a single page or seeking out photos of trains. At the tender preschool age, we want to focus on “print motivation,” the straightforward pleasure of books and stories. Let reading be fun!• Join us for fun, free storytimes at the library.• The library is for everyone!

In her 20 years of experience as a professional Librarian, Deborah most recently worked 15 years as a Youth and Family Branch Librarian for Multnomah County, where she also coordinated a family literacy grant program for disadvantaged community members in Portland. Proficient in Spanish, Deborah will work to connect Library services with Wilsonville’s Spanish-speaking community. She’ll also help other groups better understand and utilize the full range of the Library’s services and programs. Deborah has a master’s degree in Library Science from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

Director Duke explains, “Children benefit by being read to, talked to and sung to. Reading to a child is amazingly positive and helps them with personal growth throughout their entire lives.”